Nobody Else
by zpplnchick
Summary: With a brain like Peter's, information was processed in a number of ways. Comparison was one of them. Natural even. But it was enough to make Olivia a little apprehensive. Set somewhere around 3x14/3x16. (Mini fluff fest)


**Summary:** With a brain like Peter's, information was processed in a number of ways. Comparison was one of them. Natural even. But it was enough to make Olivia a little apprehensive.

**Disclaimer:** Do you _know_ how many more Polivia scenes there'd be if I owned this show?!

**A/N:** I discovered this show fairly recently, and like so many others before me, I was hooked from the get go. I blew through the series on Netflix so fast (and have the internet overage charges to prove it) but _damn_ is it good. This is just something that came to me about half an hour ago. Please enjoy :)

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"It's not that I don't appreciate what he's doing," Peter said as he followed Olivia in to her apartment. "The mysteriously bottomless bowl of condoms on my end table is, as you know, often useful, and the endless Coltrane and Miles Davis that seems to play at every turn is a nice change, but it would be nice if the seduction—however cheesy—of my girlfriend was actually on my terms."

A laugh bubbled out of her, soft and low, before she faltered and continued further into the apartment and towards the kitchen, setting the shopping bags onto the island. Peter walked in a second later, still talking, until he saw her—her back was to him and her hands were braced against the cool porcelain.

"What is it? You know I was just kidding, right? I try and keep my cheesy seduction sequences to a minimum."

Olivia breathed deeply before spinning around and smiling. "I know."

"So what's wrong?" he asked, watching her face carefully, seeing the cogs in her brain turning quickly. Even though she rarely gave any outward appearance of her thoughts, Peter always knew she was working through them furiously, waiting for a solution to present itself before giving it a voice.

"You know you make me happy, right?"

Peter smiled as he stepped towards her. "Likewise."

"Good. Because going forward, I don't want to have to feel like I should smile or be more carefree to show you how much you mean to me."

Peter cocked an eyebrow.

"Because you do," she said softly, reaching out a hand and laying it on his chest, above his heart, "mean so much to me."

_Ahh. _"Olivia, I…"

Olivia shook her head. "I've long forgiven you for not knowing that she wasn't me and I've been willing to move past it. But I don't want to compete with her, you know? Not...when it comes to you. I don't want to worry that if I reacted a different way or laughed more quickly at your jokes that you'd be happier with a funner version of me. I want you and me to be just about that: you and me. Nobody else."

Peter smiled and ran a hand down her cheek before kissing her softly. "Full disclosure?"

Olivia breathed deeply and nodded, smiling. "Full disclosure."

"I can't help but compare some things. She did laugh quicker and louder at my dumb jokes. And she was more carefree. More confident maybe. But looking back, I'm realizing things I should have put more weight to before." He rubbed a thumb across her cheek. "She was less intense because she didn't have to go through what you did. She was more patient with Walter because in her world, he is her superior. Her version never experimented on her when she was an innocent child, pumping her brain full of chemicals. She was more brazen because she didn't have as many obstacles as you faced and could carry on without hesitation or worry.

"She was not and is not as strong or stubborn or amazing as I know you are." Peter looked deep into his Olivia's eyes, willing her to understand how much he admired and loved the woman she was. "And when I looked into her eyes and thought I was seeing you, I realize now what it was that I was missing but refused to accept—that deep connection that I've never felt with anybody else. That connection that would make me bend the earth backwards and defy every law known to man to get back to you," he dipped his head and smiled softly, "and that would make you cross universes to bring me back. That connection that I am so relieved to feel now. As much as I fought then to ignore it and be happy that Olivia Dunham was finally in my arms, I'm very, very happy to know that what I feel for you is only for you."

Peter leaned down and kissed her softly. "I want you to be you, every day, for the rest of our lives, because _you_ are the only woman I am in love with."

Olivia smiled, and it was no longer because of some knot in her stomach telling her to. It was just because it was her and it was him, and nobody else.

"So… you were saying something about cheesy seduction sequences?"


End file.
